"Deciding how to engage with an Open Source community requires
understanding the needs of your organization, the spectrum of
possible engagement levels, your desired degree of influence and
long-term outcomes, and how a position on that spectrum of
engagement matches your enterprise resources and objectives. All
points along the engagement spectrum allow the enterprise to make
use of Open Source software and benefit from the advantages of the
Open Source software development model. The key characteristic
defining where an enterprise operates on the spectrum of engagement
with an Open Source community is the level that the enterprise and
its resources become directly involved and interact with that Open
Source community.
"Engagement with an Open Source community is a continuum, but an
individual or organization can participate on multiple levels
simultaneously or become more or less active as their needs
dictate..."